The importance of friends
Three things happened this week that prompted me to write this post about the importance of friends. The first was an email comment made to me by an inspired writer, Susan Owen-Thursfield (you can see what I mean about her being ‘inspired’ by reading her blog here). In the email she said ‘every day you don’t make a new friend is a day wasted’, the point being that we need to cultivate friendships, work at them and make them happen, as it is these friendships that add variety and interest to our lives.
The second thing that happened had a real impact on my perception of the relationships we build in our lives. I went to a dear friend’s funeral last week and two things in particular struck me. The first was the amount of people I knew there, and the second was the amount of people I didn’t know! We spend our lives cultivating relationships around us but often all are separate from each other. We have our family and they are separate often from our friends, then we have our work colleagues who are also friends, we have friends in different places (often different parts of the world even), we have our friends here on the internet. All of these people are important in our lives, and yet all sit in separate compartments within our lives. Not deliberately, but by virtue of the role they play within our lives. We all came together for this person’s funeral and all felt we knew him so very well, but all knew him in a different way.
The third thing that happened is that I read back through my previous posts on here, and in particluar ‘Hobbies and Interests‘. It wasn’t so much the post that struck a chord but the comment left by another fellow blogger, Steve Deerfield. Steve said ‘I liked all your posts and especially your attitude about keeping in touch with people that we actually CAN touch. If there’s any huge sucking sound going on anymore I think it’s the sound of our attentions being drawn to the internet and the promises and experiences that it may hold.’
Although I agree with Steve about that comment I also feel that the relationships we are building with each other through the internet are as valuable in real terms as our ‘tangible’ friendships. I place great value on my relationships with others, whether they are family, friends I’ve known all my life, relatively new friends, and people I can now call friends who I have met through the internet. Each of you are equally important in my life and I thank you all for the opportunity to know some part of you. Who am I without the other people in my life?
Enjoy the journey.
More From mandyallen
Hi Mandy,
Yeah, i think friendships with other people, not only make for happiness, but also form bonds leading to support, a good post !
TTFN….Ed.
Absolutely, John. And we can give as much as we receive too which is always a bonus.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy
Very nicely put. Without Friends there’s no-one to share with, which for me is the whole point.
I am glad to have become your online friend.
Have a great week
Cheers
Steve
Aw, thanks, Steve, that’s such a lovely comment to make. I’ve met some wonderful personalities on here and through the MC course. I certainly couldn’t be doing this without you!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy –
As ever, thanks for the “net love”. Your comment about the funeral, where you were amazed by the number of people you didn’t know made me think.
Last year my husband’s cousin sadly died. She was literally my age. Her late teenage kids delayed her funeral by almost 3 weeks whilst they had a “custom” coffin made “in keeping” with her personality. It was white with huge pink spots on. No-one wore black – we were asked to wear “colours”. The place was packed. I had met her only twice before and my husband hadn’t seen her for years but we “partied” (the right word) with complete strangers for the entire day.
That day deeply affected me – and it was all about the connections with people. You never know when you will say something or do something that will change someone else’s life – nor when someone will change yours.
Friends are so important. And “strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet” (and I just KNOW you’ll know who said that!)
Thanks for the post!
Sx
Will Rogers, Susan, and he also said ‘Lord, let me live until I die’. I add that because I believe he emphasised the word LIVE, and isn’t that what we all want to do, LIVE. I am always amazed at the powerful emotions at funerals and the effect it has on peoples ability to share and ‘get on’ with folks they have never met before. Incredible. Thanks so much for visiting and sad not to be meeting you in London, maybe another time.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
And Mandy does it again…another post that makes me take a step back and think. Sometimes I dont even post a reply (sorry Mandy) because she gives me so much to think about…..
Best Wishes
Colin
Hi Colin, thanks so much for those words. I believe in the power of the written word and am inspired to hear that what I write makes you think. I find lots that I read on blogs makes me think too.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Nice post Mandy. You are a very friendly person. I am often reminded of the ‘six degrees of separation’ buzz phrase when I find the connections between people. But as with ‘twitter’ and the movie ‘What women want’ you can have too much of a good thing sometimes.
Enjoying your online connection to me.
ciao JJ
Oh, I don’t know, John, don’t think I’ll ever get too much of you! Keep visiting, nice to hear from you.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Great post Mandy,
Friends are vital for personal happiness – and they save a fortune in psychiatrists / counsellors bills!
You are right that you need to cultivate friendships. Since 1995 I have printed a ‘companions’ magazine that I post to all my friends, with the latest news and forthcoming events. I am just working on the latest issue, and it does help us all to keep in touch and not drift apart.
John
Brilliant, John. How dedicated to keep all your friends linked in that way. Maybe we can have an online ‘catch up’ forum from time to time to keep in touch.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Wonderful post Mandy,
You have pulled it all together in such an inspiring way! In our hectic lives, we often forget to pause, to push in the clutch so to speak!
Reading your post and those you guided us to, have allowed me to take in a breath of fresh air!
With gratitude,
Svenja
Thank you so much, Svenja. It’s always a pleasure to know that something I have put someone’s way has brought delight.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
What a great post. You certainly know how to make me stop and think. It took a while to collect my thoughts and reply, all be it short. friends are very important in life and we all need them at some time or other and as for strangers well they are just friends that we haven’t met yet.
Keep up the good writing
Paul
Thanks, Paul. I love meeting new people and when Susan made that comment in her email to me I realised how true it was.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
It certainly made me stop and think! I know that I am sometimes guilty of taking friends for granted. Thank you for another great post.
Regards
John
Hi John, that’s really honest of you. Thanks for visiting and it’s good to be on the course with you.Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Mandy
Great post!
Ever since joining John’s Masterclass i’ve learnt so much about marketing but the extra bonus is that I’ve got to make many new friends!!
Keep up the good work.
Alex
Exactly, me too, Alex. Nice to know you.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi, good post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting.
Hi Kris, thanks for visiting, glad you enjoyed the post. Sign up to my blog and I will let you know when I post new stuff.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy